French National Assembly approves the freedom to marry, bill now faces Senate consideration

February 12, 2013

Today, the French National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament in France, voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill that would extend the freedom to marry and adoption opportunities to same-sex couples. The bill passed by a vote of 329-229. It will now move to the French Senate, which is expected to take up consideration of the bill in April.

This is a historic moment for France. We are most excited for couples like Alain and Jean-Marc who have been together for 22 years, or Stéphanie and Marie, two All Out members who have been together for 4 years. These couples, joined by the hundreds of thousands of French couples who just want to have the freedom to choose marriage as a way to show their love and their commitment to each other, have waited long enough. French polls overwhelmingly demonstrate French people are in favor of marriage for gays and lesbians. I hope the French Senate passes the bill swiftly.

Last week, the British House of Commons also approved the freedom to marry by an overwhelming vote. The marriage bill there would extend marriage to same-sex couples in England and Wales. It is poised for victory in the British House of Lords, and Prime Minister David Cameron has voiced his whole-hearted support for marriage consistently over the past year.

Last week, our founder and president Evan Wolfson celebrated these huge steps forward abroad. He said:

With France, England and Wales poised to become the next countries to embrace the freedom to marry, it's clear that the momentum we see here in the United States for ending marriage discrimination is, in fact, a global movement toward greater freedom and equality for all - and the U.S. should be leading, not lagging. America cannot afford to fall behind its closest allies and trade partners in this global economy, and needs to do right by its families, as a right-of-center British prime minister and left-of-center French president have called on their parliaments to do, with resounding success.

Freedom to Marry was the campaign to win marriage nationwide. With the Supreme Court victory on June 26, 2015, the work of this strategic campaign – though not the larger movement – was achieved, and Freedom to Marry wound down its operations, closing in early 2016. For inquiries, please email legacy@freedomtomarry.org.